Dancing too close to the edge. Have you ever seen a child playing close to the edge? What edge? It really doesn’t matter — edge of a cliff, edge of a lake, edge of a roof — all are dangerous in their own way. When observing children doing such, we immediately admonish them to move to a safer place.
Paul, in Acts 20:9-10, warned that it was too close to the edge for sailing at that time of year. The men in charge did what mankind has done since the beginning of time — they decided it was worth the risk. But was it? They thought they would be risking a less than pleasant voyage. What was that compared to a whole winter? So the leaders huddled together and decided. We will risk it.
Life on earth has its moments of pleasure and we enjoy them enough that we sometimes risk great danger to get a little more. Scripture keeps telling us to move to a place of greater safety but we think “nothing happened the last time.” So we take another turn and move a little closer to the edge. We can handle it.
Then in the blink of an eye it is too late. We have slipped. Some fall to destruction. Some grab on to the edge waiting to be rescued — “He won’t let me perish.” Some admit their mistake and pray for another chance. Sometimes God grants another chance. Sometimes He does not.
The only safe thing to do is stay in the middle of God’s will and quit dancing so close to that edge.